'Throwdown' final round runs close

Eaglecrest may feel the disadvantage of Alaska time zone

Eaglecrest staff have taken to the social media site Facebook with a marketing campaign geared toward a wide range of user groups to help motivate fans and supporters to vote for the local ski hill in this year's Powder Magazine "Ski Town Throwdown." On the Eaglecrest Facebook page, the caption reads, "Reason #612 to Vote Eaglecrest: The Easter Bunny said so."

"Reason #502 to Vote Eaglecrest: #SkiEaglecrest is a community owned ski area, with youth programs like #Books2Boards." Eaglecrest staff have taken to the social media site Facebook with a marketing campaign geared toward a wide range of user groups to help motivate fans and supporters to vote for the local ski hill in this year's Powder Magazine "Ski Town Throwdown."

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This is the final week to vote for Eaglecrest Ski Area as the 2014 Ski Town Throwdown champion — and so far, the race is close.

Eaglecrest has for the most part trailed closely behind Crested Butte, its competitor in the final pairing, since voting started Monday morning. As of noon Wednesday, the score was about 7,600 votes for Crested Butte and roughly 7,400 votes for Eaglecrest.

It seems the time zone and voting rules are putting Alaska at a slight disadvantage. Voters are allowed to vote once every 24-hour period. Voting ends at 4 p.m., Alaska time, on Friday. Hence, if a person voted for Eaglecrest past 4 p.m. Monday, he or she will only be allowed to vote four out of a potential five times.

Of course, the same is true for competitor Crested Butte, which follows Mountain Time. The difference is that they have until 6 p.m. their time.

“We have noticed that most of our rallying happens after 5 p.m.,” said Eaglecrest Sales and Marketing Director Jeffra Clough.

She said the ski area is trying to attract new — and more — voters this round.

“A vote for Eaglecrest is a vote for Juneau and ultimately a vote for Alaska,” she said.

Eaglecrest is holding a “Rock the Vote” get-together from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday at Hangar on the Wharf.